Samuel Dombey was a black man living in New Orleans following the Civil War. Times were tough in the south, but Sam continued to bring money in by digging graves. He did an excellent job and his price was much lower that the competing gravediggers in the New Orleans area. In time, the lower prices charged by Sam were beginning to affect the income of his competitors. Sam stayed busy as long as people kept dying. The competing gravediggers had to do something about Sam or be run completely out of business by him.

The competitors met and decided to take action. They would either kill Sam or leave him in such poor physical condition that he could never dig another grave.

Well, for a job like this, old Doctor Beauregard was the person to talk to. He had magical powers and he could sell you his strongest curse for the price of a couple of graves! That particular curse involved the use of an owl’s head. How the owl’s head worked in the curse, they didn’t exactly know. They just knew that it did! So, the gravediggers decided that the expense of the finest curse was a wise investment.

The next morning, Sam showed up at a local cemetery and started digging a grave. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion from under the trees and a man staggered out, covered with blood! Sam dropped his shovel and ran to assist the injured man. He, the injured man, had tried to fire an old black powder shotgun that had been loaded with too much gunpowder and buckshot! When he tried to fire it, the barrel exploded, seriously injuring him. The police were summoned to the scene and the injured man was identified as Doctor Beauregard. At that point, Sam was warned by the police that it appeared the man was trying to kill him.

Sam didn’t believe that for a minute. Everybody knew that if Doctor Beauregard wanted to kill you, he’d turn you into a frog then step on you - or something like that. Using a rusty old shotgun just wasn’t something a man of his magical powers would do.

Doctor Beauregard survived the ordeal and threatened to put a curse on anyone who ever mentioned the incident again.

NOTE: No doubt, old Doc Beauregard still had those magical powers!

While Doctor Beauregard was recuperating, the gravediggers decided to take a more hands-on approach. They’d just kill Sam Dombey themselves!

When Sam wasn’t digging graves, he could frequently be found at home taking care of his garden. He had a shed on his property with a cot, where he sometimes took naps during those hot, humid Louisiana days. One day, while he was napping, all hell broke loose! There was a very loud explosion and Sam found himself traveling through the roof of the shed, then the roof went skyward! He landed about twenty feet away from the hut, dazed and bruised a bit, but otherwise unhurt! The shed was totally destroyed.

The police arrived again to investigate what was believed by the police to be a crime. Old Sam had no reason to believe anybody would try to kill him. He was just an honest old gravedigger. It was some sort of accident, obviously. At any rate, the police officers warned Sam again of their suspicions. They also began to refer to Sam as Indestructible Sam.

The next attempt on the life of Sam made a believer of him. Sam was attacked by several armed men one night, tied up, gagged and taken to the pier. There he was loaded on a boat and rowed out into Lake Pontchartrain . With his hands and feet tied, he was dumped overboard and left to drown, while the criminals quickly rowed out of the area! It must have been a great plan in the minds of the gravediggers, but there was one major oversight. Nobody bothered to measure the depth of the water at the exact spot where Sam was dropped! It was only about two feet deep! Sam just sat up after the thugs rowed away, untied his hands and feet and walked ashore. Though he couldn’t positively identify any of the criminals, he was convinced that they were out to kill him.

The next attempt on Sam’s life came when his house caught fire one night. As he ran from the burning structure, he was met with a full load of buckshot that hit him squarely in the chest! Firemen arrived on the scene and arrangements were made to get Sam to the hospital or the morgue, as needed. Old Sam had been through a lot in his life and most of these things would have killed an ordinary man, but not old Sam. He survived the shotgun blast, recuperated and went right back to digging graves. He lived until he was 98 years of age, much longer than the competitors who tried to kill him. None of the assailants were ever positively identified, but Sam eventually developed his own suspicions.

NOTE: I once heard a rumor down on Canal Street, that old Sam dug the grave that each of his suspected assailants rests in today - and he didn’t charge the families a thing for it! It's only a rumor you understand, only a rumor. - Wilson Jay

For Buck 65's Youtube musical tribute to the Indestructible Sam Dombey, CLICK HERE